Migration, attachment, and orientation of human gingival fibroblasts to root slices, naked and porous-surfaced titanium alloy discs, and Zircalloy 2 discs in vitro.

Cell migration, attachment, and orientation of cultured human gingival fibroblasts (HGF) were measured in relation to four types of specimens: Ti-6Al-4V alloy discs with either ground surfaces or porous structured surfaces, and Zr alloy discs (Zircalloy 2) with either ground surfaces or surfaces modified by being heated to form a thicker oxide cover. Surface-demineralized and non-demineralized root slices were used as controls. Initial cell attachment was measured by means of a 51Cr assay, and cell attachment and orientation following migration by an assay that measures development of the resulting refractile material in relation to the specimen. No significant difference between initial cell attachment to Ti alloy and control demineralized root slices could be detected after one hr using the 51Cr assay. However, with the second assay, cell attachment and orientation at three, seven, 10, and 14 days were significantly higher in relation to surface-demineralized root slices than to all of the metal discs and the non-demineralized root slices. While cell attachment to the surface-ground Ti alloy discs appeared to be higher than that to the porous-surfaced Ti alloy discs at three days and seven days, cell orientation to the porous-surfaced Ti alloy discs and the non-demineralized root slices at days 7, 10, and 14 was greater than that to all of the other metal discs. These data suggest that surface geometry could affect attachment and orientation of cells in vitro.